Evolution, evolution, evolution……

That day Mrs. Sharma felt frustrated. She felt helpless and with no power. She kept thinking how she could make a difference.  That day’s events had disturbed her to the core and she wished from all her heart that she could correct it. The biggest question that loomed in her mind was which way our society is moving. There must be a way and surely she would find a way to spread her message and make people more aware.

            Mrs. Sharma who has retired from Government service had been a committed officer and has contributed to the public service immensely with her wisdom and hard work. She had a long stint of working hard at the office and trying to balance work and home. It had kept her very busy for a long - long time in her life. This was clubbed with the pressures of growing up of her children, their careers, their marriages, etc. Now after her superannuation she has chosen a quiet life and she suddenly has a lot of free time.

            She has two grandsons from her elder son but they live far way lives about twenty six kilometers from her. She often misses them.

            During the winters after lunch she likes to take a stroll in the nearby DDA Park where she often meets some neighbors and exchanges some gossip with them. She also likes to watch birds the park. Daily around two o’ clock a number of school children pass through the park and she enjoys looking at them jumping around, playing small pranks on one another or sometimes chasing one another. She likes the noises and their chatter. She loves the boisterous energy oozing out of their youthful faces. They seem to charge the atmosphere in the park with a vibrant and joyful energy. Though noisy they are full of life and excitement.

That winter afternoon as she was alone she sat on a bench for some time to enjoy the sun. She watched the children pass by and observed some of them buying peanuts from the local vendor. She could hear their chatter. Her attention was caught by a small yellow colored butterfly which was moving swiftly among the bushes in front of her. Her eyes followed its zigzag movement. It was fun observing its disappearance among the bushes and sudden appearance from another side in a few seconds. A light breeze warmed by the sun was blowing which made her doze off for some time. The park had become deserted when she woke up. She felt thirsty as the sun hit hard then. So she decided to walk back home by a shorter route than the one she generally followed.

As usual she could see three-four uniformed children hurrying home. As she neared her block she saw two small boys on the other side of the road. They were carrying large bags on their backs. She felt a pang of sympathy for them because the bags seemed heavy and much larger in proportion to their own size.  The boys had stopped in front of a house. They climbed the front steps and started trying to reach the door bell which was too high for them. Both of them tried one by one to reach the bell but it was too high for them. Then the boy who was a little taller held the other one in his arms and lifted him. But this attempt also failed because even with their combined efforts they could not reach the button of the door bell. Out of curiosity Mrs. Sharma stopped walking to watch them from across the road. She thought they must have banged at the door earlier and nobody was opening the door she remembered her own grand sons who were about the same age as these children were.

She was amazed to see that the younger child pulled out a long stick from his bag and then the elder one again raised him and they attempted to push the bell button. Noticing that the children were a little unsteady in reaching the bell button Mrs. Sharma crossed the road and approached them. All the while Mrs. Sharma kept guessing how careless the parents or their mother might be. This was the time for all the school children to return home. Their mother should be prepared expecting them to come anytime now. She could have left the door open when she knew that her children were due to arrive at this hour. Mumbling under her breath that parents these days don’t care for the children and remembering that when her children were small they had a special arrangement when they came back from the school and never faced so much difficulty as these poor kids are facing now a days.

Determined to impress upon the inhabitants what their duties are Mrs. Sharma reached out and firmly pushed the button of the door bell for a long time. To her utter amazement, the boys turned around and screamed “Quick, run fast.” She also heard someone shouting from inside. Before Mrs. Sharma could realize what was happening the boys had jumped and had already crossed the road. The door flung open and a very old man whose back was bent appeared shouting “Wait, you rascals! Today I’ll show you what it means to ring the bell.  I will not leave you today…….” His voice trailed off as he sighted Mrs. Sharma and was taken aback. His voice was now a little incoherent and low “I thought it was those ruffians who….”. “They ring the bell everyday and then run away”. Mrs. Sharma just nodded and feeling sorry for the old man she could not collect herself to say anything. She left the place with a bad taste in her mouth. The door was closed quickly. She heard distinct giggles but could not make out the direction they were coming from. The boys could not be seen anywhere.

She silently cursed the boys for the discomfort they were causing to the elderly person and the embarrassment meted out to her which spoiled a lovely afternoon. The boys were having fun without realizing that every movement of that elderly man who had a bent back caused him so much pain.  The pain had manifested itself in the form of a deep bitterness in his voice. The trail of her thoughts was broken by a speedy red car that rushed past her, barely a few inches away.  She could hear the blaring music even from a distance.  She was startled to witness such reckless driving. Why would a person drive so fast on a small colony street? She was again perturbed by this incident.

After a few minutes she heard a loud screech and a big thud as if something had fallen. The street was curved towards right in front of her, so she could not make out exactly what had happened.  But she could hear footfall of a number of people rushing in the direction from where the loud screech of metal had come.  She hastened towards the point in the gully.

There in front of her about 500 meters away was the red car crashed on the opposite side of the street, jutted into a light pole with its right half badly dented. She could see the driver’s head bent on to one side and his right arm hanging out of the window.

There were three people near the car talking about the action that should be taken.  But a number of people had gathered encircling something near the middle of the street.  From a distance she could not make out what it was.  Her curiosity drove her to the spot.  She was shocked to find the same two little boys lying on the road, terribly injured.  The legs of one of the boys seemed to be badly crushed and the other seemed to have been badly hit on the head.

She heard one of the persons in the crowd saying that he knew the boys and had already called their fathers. Even the guy in the car was known to someone and they were calling his kin and would be taking steps to take them to the hospital. Another lady who seemed to have witnessed the accident was recounting it. The car came speedily from the curved side; the children were running in the middle of the road. Although the driver honked the horn and applied breaks, the car rolled over the boys and in a futile attempt to save the kids the driver turned to the extreme right but jutted into the street pole. 

The gruesome sight shook.  With a heavy heart she walked back home.  She could not understand what carelessness had resulted into this disaster.  The giggles had transformed into a grave misery.  Recklessness could lead to such devastation. Surely it could have been avoided. The children don’t understand that playful, carefree acts may sometimes turn into in-sensitiveness and even rash actions.  But we adults, what about us? Do we understand? Are we any different from those children? Are we not being reckless, insensitive to the feelings of other people and oblivious of the harm we may bring about to others, even though unintentionally? Mrs. Sharma was haunted by these thoughts when she reached her house.

Part 10

Wednesday like the rest of the days was very busy at office. Nisha thought it wiser not to reveal what happened with Meenakshi to her friends. Meenakshi would perhaps be the best person to share it.

Her friends noticed that she had taken extra care to groom herself that day and remarked that she was looking very pretty. The day passed quickly. Again next two days were full of meetings. Nisha realized how quickly Friday evening had arrived but there was no sign of Suneel on Friday although she had seen him going into one or other rooms the day before. She reckoned that she was now thinking very kindly of him and was no longer critical. “This does not mean I’m agreeing to marry him”, she told herself.

The weekend again was uneventful. Nobody talked about marriage or Suneel at home, her parents had to visit her aunt on Saturday. On Sunday evening at Neeru’s suggestion the trio visited the nearby Mall to shop for some dresses.  Tinkoo was not interested in anything except getting some ice cream. Neeru was fascinated by new trendy art jewellery and trinkets. Generally Nisha did not buy much but she amazed herself by buying two new dresses and matching sandals with them.

Mondays generally are busier than the rest of the week. Nisha found Suneel in her team head’s room and she was soon drawn into a discussion on selecting clients for the forthcoming next conference on innovative practices in the field of estates.

After dinner Maa and Baba called her into their room. Baba asked her about her work and asked about Suneel. She told him that she could not see him for the last three days. 

Baba asked her whether she had come to a decision about Suneel. She was hesitant , so he asked, “Do you dislike anything about him?”

“No... Baba”.

“I have heard that you found him rude is it true?”

“No Baba, not any longer”.

“Is there anything about his nature that bothers you?”

“No baba, he is a very nice guy.”

“If his parents ask me after some time say a day or so, shall I give them a go ahead for the marriage?’

Nisha was silent.

Mother asked her “Nisha we might be required to give them a reply”.

Maa added,“Is there someone else you want?  Do you have anyone else on your mind? Just let us know.”

“NO, no”.

“Does it mean that you like him but you do not want to marry him?”

“I don’t know”.

“Shall we say no or yes to them?”

Nisha was silent.

Baba added, “It’s alright, take your time.  It is not that they have already asked us. We can seek time.”

Caressing her head he gently said, “Go child, go and take rest.”

Nisha went to her room thinking why she was so confused.  Why didn’t she tell Maa-Baba a clear ‘No’ out rightly? Sure she had started liking Suneel, but wouldn’t like to spend her life with him. Or would she? She hadn’t seen him for three days what was he doing?

When her head rested on her soft pillow she kept wondering why Suneel was not seeing her. Was he really so busy? With these thoughts she drifted into a disturbed sleep.

               She saw herself sitting on her desk and there were a number of important tasks she needed to complete. Suddenly a siren started blaring loudly. Neerja and Damini were moving towards the stairs and yelling at her to come with them.  There were fumes coming from the left side of the building and she soon saw other employees also evacuating the building.  She also started climbing down the stairs and soon all of them were outside the building. She looked up where all others were gazing and was shocked to see wild, fiery red and yellow hungry flames reaching up the upper portion of the building.

         She remembered seeing Suneel going into Sulakshna’s room. Sulakshna was standing near her and Nisha asked her whether she had seen Suneel?  Sulksha said he had left her room a long time back and she had not seen him since then. Did he come out of the building?  She looked around all the people were there but she could not sight him. Where is he?  She was sweating profusely. Sonu…Sonu..she called out but she could not find him.  She called again a little loudly. Moving among the crowd she tried to move around and locate him.  She was relieved to see him standing away and talking to someone with his back towards her.  She went near him and called his name, he did not listen, and she called his name again, yet no reply.  She pulled at his shirt to catch his attention, he turned towards her, she was shocked, he was a stranger, and he was not Suneel. Where is Suneel?  Is he still trapped in the building, why did he not come out when all others were coming out?  There were firemen all over the place. She started calling him again loudly.  Suddenly someone was shaking her hard and she expected that it must be Suneel who shook her so hard, she turned around.. and she heard Neeru’s voice calling her “Didi.. didi .. what’s the matter are you alright…? Suddenly her eyes opened and she looked around to find that she was in her own room. It took Nisha quite some time to realise that it was a nightmare. Its intensity was still affecting her and she was drenched in her own sweat. When she was fully awake she requested Neeru to get her some water.

Neeru told her that she shook her vigorously because she  was shouting.  After taking a few sips when Nisha felt composed Neeru asked her about her dream.  Nisha related to her whatever she remembered of her dream.

When Nisha had finished, she exclaimed, “Wasn’t it a strange dream? So frightening!”

Neeru said, “Didi, it’s obvious.”

“What’s obvious?”

“It’s so plain; can’t you see the simple fact?”

“Don’t talk to me in riddles, and come to the point.”

“Dee you are in love!”

“What?”

“Yes, you were worried about Suneel Bhaiyya even in your dream.  You were not able to talk to him. It was bothering you. If this is not love then what is?”

“This is rubbish; I think it was just a concern.  It could have been for anyone.”

“I don’t think so.  You did not seem to be concerned for anyone else.”

“Please don’t speak of this to Maa and Baba.”

“Okay”, Neeru smiled at her. She looked into the timepiece beside the bed and declared, 

“It’s too early to get up. Let’s catch some more sleep.”

True to her word Nisha soon heard her snoring lightly. Nisha could not sleep quickly she was still brooding.  What if Neeru was right?  Deep in her heart she knew that she found Suneel attractive, and had developed a liking for him which was not for anyone else, but could she really fall in love?  Could all those sweet things be happening to her as they happened in the movies and novels?  She tried to brush aside these thoughts but a feeling of sweet satisfaction and euphoria swept over her as she drifted back in her sleep.

Next morning she got up quite early and took out one of the new dresses. Maa was surprised to see her ready so quickly and that too in the kitchen even before the breakfast was ready.

“Let me help you Maa,” she poured the milk in glasses for all the family members and took it to the dining area.  Humming softly one of her favourites she helped bring the chapattis from the kitchen and readied the plates for Tinkoo and Baba. All of a sudden everything seemed to be so easy and bright. She liked everything and everyone and was in a very good mood.  It was such a beautiful morning!

By now Neeru was ready too.  As she noticed her new dress, she pinched Nisha and told her it was very becoming. She teased whispering in her ear, “Sonu is definitely going to love it.”

“Shut up!”

To her surprise Nisha found herself blushing on this comment but admonished Neeru to behave herself.

In the office work was voluminous this Tuesday as usual but Nisha felt more energetic. She saw Suneel passing by her cabin and her heart nearly missed a beat while exchanging a hello with him.  After the morning tea when she was discussing some files with Sulakshana in her room Suneel came into the room along with four people. Suneel introduced them, they had joined the company just a day before and Suneel was given the charge to mentor them during their probation. There was a lovely girl named Priyanka, and the other three were boys all smartly dressed and eager to impress, named Vijay ,Kamal and Himanshu.  Their excitement and energy lightened the atmosphere in the room and a barrage of questions kept coming her way about the work. Nisha noticed that Priyanka was very pretty and was quite tall nearly reaching Suneel’s ear.  Suneel soon left with them for a tour of the office.

Nisha returned to her seat and was expecting to see Suneel presumably after lunch after he would finish his responsibility with the new interns. But even the afternoon teatime had passed without any sign of Suneel.  While reading a file Nisha felt as if Suneel had come to her and asked her in that familiar voice “Coffee?” But when she looked up from her monitor he was nowhere to be seen.  Nisha tried to concentrate on her work. Soon in her mind’s eye she saw Suneel turning round the corner and approaching towards her. Nisha tried to pull herself out of this thought process.

“What’s happening to me?”

“Have I gone mad?”

“I’ll soon have to do something about it.”

“I think he will come around the closing time”.

Soon it was six in the evening, Neerja and Damini pulled her out of her reverie. 

“Come Nisha, let’s go.” Nisha dragged herself along with them.

When she reached home Neeru was sitting on the couch in the drawing room, she was not out playing that evening.  Her friends had gone on a three day tracking trip.

“Did you meet Suneel Bhaiyya didi?”

“Yeah, I did but I did not talk to him much”.

“Oh”.

“Neeru, Baba wanted to know my answer yesterday.” Nisha confided in her younger sister.

“What did you say to them Dee?”

“Nothing”

“Why Dee? Don’t you like him?”

 In reply to Nisha’s silence after a pause she added, “He is such a nice guy, educated, progressive and so handsome…and so rich! I think you like him a lot, don’t you?”

“Neeru, I think tonight after dinner I’ll tell Maa that I am ready for this marriage.”

“Oh! Wonderful! Dee!” Neeru hugged her in excitement.  “This would be the best Dee. I think this would be a perfect match for you.” Enthusiastically she asked, “Shall we tell Maa right now?”

“NO, no wait a minute”, Nisha stopped her. “Maa would be, expecting an answer from me, so we will tell her and Baba after dinner.

Neeru went out of the room to answer the bell expecting that Baba would have returned.

Nisha went to her room to change into comfortable clothes and thought she would help Maa to lay the table and get things ready for dinner.

She found Neeru with Maa and Baba in drawing room talking and they all fell silent when 

she entered.

“Why Maa, what has happened?  Why all of you are so quiet? Is everything alright?”

The three of them looked at her.

Maa said, “We should tell Nisha too.”

Baba joined her, “Come here my dear”, Baba put his arm around her and drew her closer to sit beside him on the sofa.

“I received a call from MahendraTewari in the evening. He told me that they will be going back to the mountains tomorrow. He was sorry that he wouldn’t be able to meet us in the weekend.  They will go to Summer Hill straight from Jaipur. Although they had planned to stay another week in Delhi before returning to Simla they have to rush back due to some urgent property matters.”

“My dear, as I was asking you your opinion about the match they too might be asking their son about it. Mahendra told me that he and his wife were very much interested in this alliance due to our friendship but he opined that it is our children’s future and their lives.  They have to be sure about this marriage. His son seems to have asked him to hold it for some time and not to rush into it. He said that he had asked him but Suneel did not give him any reason. ”

“But he seemed to be so enthusiastic when he came here”, Neeru said. “What could have happened Baba? Could it be that he is refusing the match?” Neeru was anxious

“I have no clue, my dear.”

Maa said, “I think if Nisha is Okay with this we may start looking at other proposals too”.

“Yeah, that option is always open to us, I am sure Nisha would get a very good match, but I think let us not rush things,” Baba was looking at Nisha, her face had lost all its colour.

Maa also noticed it and quickly added, “Yes you are right”.

Dinner was a quiet affair.  All of them were busy in their thoughts except Tinkoo. When he did not receive any response to his requests for playing a game he quietly busied himself in a video game.

Nisha was perturbed.  She was tossing in her bed.  What could have gone wrong with Suneel? He did not come to see her for the last three days, was he avoiding her? What could be the reason? Was it a polite way of rejecting her? These thoughts made her feel very uncomfortable.

Next morning, was again busy in the office.  Suneel just helloed her and disappeared into his chamber.  During tea break she saw him standing in the corridor near the coffee machine chatting with the new recruits.  They were engrossed in what Suneel was saying and then they were roaring with laughter.  She noticed Suneel was paying a lot of attention to Priyanka. Although she could not hear them but could guess that he was explaining one of the projects to her.  Then all of them went inside Suneel’s chamber.

So it meant that Suneel was too busy with the new recruits especially the pretty girl out there that he is not finding time to even talk to her properly. She thought there was no point in expecting Suneel to see her.  What could have gone wrong?  Suddenly it dawned upon her that it could be because of the new lady recruit with whom Suneel seemed to be so fascinated. She was very pretty and anybody could be easily attracted to her. She felt a little depressed and wanted to run away from the office, so after finishing the work at hand quickly she went to Sulakshna to ask her for an off in the post lunch half. Sulakshna agreed because there were no meetings lined up till the next two days and she knew that Nisha had never taken an off since she joined this post. All the leave due in her account had lapsed in the last six months.

Nisha rang up Neeru to get ready with Tinkoo and offered to take them out to see a movie.

Next day too Nisha did not feel like going to the office and early in the morning she emailed Sulakshna that she was not well and wouldn’t be reporting for duty for two more days.

She helped Maa with her work, Played Carom with Neeru and Tinkoo when they returned from their studies and read Jane Austen her favourite author in the evening.  In spite of herself her thoughts kept returning to Suneel and the rejection kept pinching her.

Saturday morning Nisha got up late and Neeru and Tinkoo were still asleep. Baba was reading the newspaper after his return from a walk.  She was leisurely sipping her morning tea when the door bell rang.  She had to answer it because Maa was in her daily Pooja. 

As soon as she opened the door she was faced with a big bouquet of red roses and gently pushing her, the bearer came straight inside.  She was amazed to see Suneel peering from behind the roses.

“Will you keep admiring the roses or will ever look at me too?” he pushed the bouquet in her hands

“Surprised?”

Nisha nodded.

“Sorry all my work kept me away from you for so many days.”

Suneel looked around ascertaining that nobody was hearing them. He came closer to her and took one of her hands in his and whispered, “I’ve been missing seeing you alone. In fact I was missing you”.

He bent towards her and came still closer such that Nisha could feel his breath on her forehead and hear her heart beat loudly in her ears.

He whispered, “Will you marry me?”

All of this was so sudden and unexpected that Nisha felt the whole room spinning around her. She looked up in his eyes with disbelief and as he nodded she knew he meant what he said.

Baba’s voice came to her from the ante’ room, “Who is it Nisha?”

Suneel looked at her questioningly and then added, “I think we are best suited as life partners. What do you think?”

She only smiled.

“I love you, what about you?”  

Nisha was silent; the answers to all the questions that had been bothering her till now did not matter any longer.  Everything else became trivial.

“Marry me”, he insisted.

Baba called again, “Who is at the door Nisha?’

When Nisha nodded with her eyes downcast he said aloud, “It’s me Baba”. 

Catching her hand he went to her father and simply said “Sir, I want your permission to marry your daughter if you find me worthy of her.”

Baba beckoned him to come near him and took him in his arms. Nisha realized that all the family members had gathered around them in the room to listen to the plans that Suneel had made for that weekend.

Suneel explained that he had finalized the paperwork and some deals for their property in Simla and he was getting it converted into a tourist resort. They would keep their house in Summer Hill to live and would visit it whenever they wanted. He had to overlook some of the things in Simla and then bring his parents back to Delhi.

He offered to take them to Simla with him for the weekend.  Baba allowed Neeru and Tinkoo to accompany Nisha on her trip with Suneel to one of her new homes.

 Nisha was now ready to go anywhere he would take her.  He gave them one hour to pack their things. Then he followed Maa into the kitchen to see what she planned to feed him.

Soon Nisha was off on her dream journey on a dream road with her dream partner.

Part 9

Within 5 minutes they were passing bungalows and larger houses and then soon turned towards larger buildings of private societies with different kinds of apartments.  They soon entered into one such society and after finishing the formalities at the gate Suneel parked the motorbike. 

Till now Suneel had avoided her queries by saying that she would soon know where they were going. They took a lift to reach the 3^rd floor and now Suneel told her that they were going to see Meenakshi.

“Wouldn’t she think it queer?” Nisha was surprised and a little apprehensive.

“She might, but it is important that you see her,” was a distant reply. He added, “She is expecting us. I called her from the café.”

The bell was answered instantly and Nisha found Meenakshi standing in the doorway with a welcoming smile on her face.  Nisha noticed that she looked quite relaxed.

It was a two bedroom apartment with a living room having a balcony on the left of the main doorway separating the living room by large glass doors and an open kitchen on the right forming an ‘L’ shape from the main entrance. The layout had the advantage that one cannot see what’s happening in the kitchen from the entrance.  The living area was being used as a drawing room too as it was spacious enough. It had a modern look with built in structures to hold a music system and accessories with the wall mounted smart TV. The room was given an elegant look by the tasteful décor on the walls. Anybody sitting on the sofa would get a lovely view of the beautiful roses that bloomed in the artistically carved pots in the Balcony.

After they sat down on a comfortable Italian sofa, Meenakshi expressed how glad she was to see both of them.  She asked about the work at office. On Nisha’s remark that her work had increased many fold, she remarked, “You must be wondering why I had left work so suddenly”.

She explained, “I had a very bad experience at office.  Initially I was embarrassed but later I felt a under some pressure ……. that was….that was not acceptable to me.”

Nisha remained silent but Suneel intervened, “you will have to tell more Meenakshi because it’s very important to us.”

Meenakshi looked puzzled, so Suneel quickly added “Mine and Nisha’s families are trying to come up with a marriage alliance between us. We might become engaged you know.  But Nisha is perturbed, she thinks that it might be her fault for what happened to you”.

Meenakshi was astonished and looked questioningly at Nisha.

Nisha blurted out, “Oh, I am so sorry…. I did not know anything about your relationship with Deven. I had gone out twice with him, once for a coffee and next for a movie one evening, that’s all…. and that’s it… nothing more than that… so please don’t take it otherwise… it won’t happen again.”

“It better not”, retorted Meenakshi. She added, “You know nothing about him.” She seemed angry now, “I am really glad that you came here because you must know what has happened though it pains me to remember all that humiliation and suffering at his hands”.

“It is better that I tell you from the very beginning.  Nine years ago my father had died after a road accident when I was in 12^th standard. Our lives were shattered and we were broke. Major portion of my father’s fund was spent on hospital bills that couldn’t save him. Somehow my mother started small tailoring jobs for the neighborhood ladies which later developed as a boutique and this way she was able to run the house and our day to day lives.  She managed to get me higher education. After my MBA I appeared for interviews at a number of companies but somehow luck would have it that I wasn’t offered any job for about three months.  I got through the interview in this company and was desperate for a job because my widowed mother had developed a tumour in her uterus.  That meant we required a lot of money for operation and the post-operative care, I was already under the pressure of an education loan I had taken for my MBA. My younger brother was then in 11^th standard though he could earn a small amount through tuition of younger children but that was barely enough for him to spend on his daily transportation and his own books, stationery, etc."

She paused to give some instructions as the maid brought them some water.

“So as I was telling you I could get through both the rigorous assessments after the interview and was offered the appointment letter. Deven was my reporting officer and mentor during my three months’ probation.  He would deliberately single me out, then point out my faults and criticise me publicly for small things. My colleagues suggested that I must have a talk with him because it appeared that probation period was a critical time in one’s career.  He informed me that I was doing very well and that he wanted to make me perfect and I need not worry about small things.  In fact I liked this view and welcomed a critical assessment of my performance”.

She continued, “The four of us the other three trainees and I started lunching in Deven’s room as he had suggested. Soon we started liking each other and a friendship developed.  After my confirmation Deven and I started seeing each other outside the office.  After my mother’s operation I brought him here to see her.  She also liked him."

“Very soon he professed his love to me. Naturally I wanted the relationship to have some meaningful turn and he indicated that he would talk to his parents about marriage when he would visit them in his village and we may think of an engagement after that.  I never pressurised him to hurry, though my mother was apprehensive and asked me to urge him not to wait too long.”

“I indicated to him quite often that I might not be able to see him any longer if he does not tell his parents about me.  But he kept talking about great plans but never took any action”.

“So, about six months ago I threatened to break the relationship. He promised to go to his village and persuade his parents.  But when he returned from his village he would talk only about the frail health of his father and whenever I would bring up the subject he would tell me that he could not broach the subject with his parents because his parents were orthodox and may not agree to his selecting a girl for himself. As his father is a heart patient he cannot even think of informing him on phone.”

“But he claimed that he was afraid of only one thing that I might leave him and he would not be able to bear that. So every time he would  promise that he would find a suitable opportunity and talk to his parents”

“This made me stop going out with him. I wanted him to value our relationship. He came here to the house and he promised to set things right.  I told him clearly that I would allow myself to be seen with him again only after he has fulfilled his promise. I was actually in a depressed state of mind for the last three-four months because of the uncertainty in our relationship. I was losing my confidence and was in a big dilemma.”

“Three weeks ago he visited his village again and told me that he would then talk to his parents this time. A fellow villager who incidentally was visiting my neighbour Ratna came along with Deven when he returned. Deven did not know that he was visiting my neighbour who is also my friend.”

“The same evening when I visited Ratna I met this guy, when he came to know about our company he enquired whether I knew Deven. He told me that he knew Deven’s family well and that he belonged to his wife’s village. He told me in detail everything about his family and the fact that Deven was married for four years but is not bringing his wife with him to the city because she is needed there in the village to look after his ailing parents.”

“This revelation devastated me it destroyed all the leftover faith and confidence in me. All this time I was being lied to. All this time he gave me the impression that I was the only one in his life.

“You know when I confronted him and asked him why he promised me marriage when he had a living wife, he came up with more lies again.  He said he never liked his wife, and he was forced into marriage by his parents. He lied to me again and said he was divorcing his wife and he had already filed the papers.  He insisted that he wanted to continue this relationship which was not acceptable to me, so I told him very clearly that divorce or no divorce, it did not matter to me any longer and that I was done with him and I broke with him completely and would never see him again.”

“When mother came to know about this she advised me to never see him again. But last week I came to know about all the lies and the false promises he had made to me. It was supposed to be me last day in the office because I had already tendered my resignation without a notice. I did not see him I just happened to bump into him. That unfortunate day his PA who knew about our relationship confided in me that a call was received from his house from his father when he was in a meeting and a message was left for him that he had been bestowed with a son.”

“In that moment I felt like a fool, a complete idiot and felt terribly cheated and thought the world had ended for me. I felt I did not want to exist any longer…and very much ashamed of myself......I felt like removing myself… away from everything …., and moved towards that foolish rash action” Her eyes filled with tears, “But Suneel came from somewhere out of the blue, talked me back into my senses, and then brought me home here.”

She looked up at him gratefully, and Suneel exclaimed angrily, “It would have been a shame to waste you on such a scoundrel. In fact the rascal needs to be taught a lesson.”

“Suneel reminded me that it was not the end of the world, and that there are more important people in my life who loved me.”

“He was so right my dear; it was none of your fault that you were so cheated.  You are not the first person on the earth who has been so cheated,” a voice came from behind Nisha.

As Nisha turned around Meenakshi introduced her to her mother. She was a very frail and delicate lady in her mid-fifties but seemed quite active.  Suneel got up to make room for her and bent to touch her feet. She settled near Nisha on the sofa.

The maid brought in some fresh lemonade with biscuits and namkeen. As they helped themselves, mother stated that she had left the decision to continue in the present job entirely on Meenakshi but it was better that Meenakshi found a change in environment and people around her.

Meenakshi declared that she had some good news to share, she has been selected for an executive post in an MNC in the Cyber city area and would have to join the new post after a week. 

She shared, “I had started applying for new positions in other companies two months ago and had appeared in three interviews, this was the first offer because here she had topped among all the applicants who were cleared in the interview.”

“It was not only Deven’s behaviour on a personal level with me but also another action that made me feel uncomfortable in the company. I was unaware that for the last six months he was impressing upon people that I got this job because of him. It is a total lie.  I had no clue about this till two months ago. I do not like talking about such things and creating more embarrassing moments for myself. ”

She added, “I think I just needed to prove to myself my worth again.  I am going to give myself a new start.”

Both Nisha and Suneel congratulated her heartily. Suneel had to take a call on his cell phone so he went out in the balcony.

Meenakhsi’s mother Mrs. Taneja said, “Suneel is a gem of a person. He belongs to a very good and cultured family.  I and Meenakshi went to meet his parents when they were here staying with him in his apartment. His mother is a very sweet and gentle lady.”

“Suneel lives just two blocks away in another society. It is walk able from here”, explained Meenakshi.

Mrs Taneja added further, “His parents are very rich and have a huge property in Manesar and own two floors in a posh locality in Gurugram. They also have ancestral property in Uttarakhand and get a huge rental income.  But they have a very simple living and are so humble that you wouldn’t even get a clue to their riches and this quality has been inherited by Suneel.  He is very good natured, kind and gentle.”

Meenakshi informed Mrs. Taneja that Nisha and Suneel’s family were trying a marriage alliance between the two of them.  She said, “Nisha is soon going to be engaged to Suneel”.

“I don’t know, I haven’t decided”, Nisha protested.

Meenakshi moved a little closer to Nisha, and said to her “You know Nisha, I have always liked you.  Although we did not talk much since our cabins were far removed and your friend circle was different than mine probably because I joined the company much earlier than you did, but I have always admired you and your work. You are really an asset to the company and when Deven secretly raised objections in your excellent presentations and marketing strategies of the projects I used to feel really bad. Still you were able to manage the budgets of the foreign components of the trainings.”

“Oh what a relief”, Meenakshi exclaimed; “Now I can talk about what was happening in the company since I am not ethically bound not to reveal information about the projects”. She told Nisha that Deven was the one who would unnecessarily put objections and seek irrelevant clarifications in her work.

She continued, “I think it’s a rare chance that a girl would get a life partner like Suneel.”

Mrs. Taneja added, “If the god is bestowing you with such kindness you should not think twice but grab the chance”.

Suneel came back into the room and declared that he had been called from his team and he must go back.  So he requested Nisha that they would have to leave immediately.

 He rode a little fast towards Nisha’s house, so that he could return to attend to his work. He dropped her in front of her house and said, “Please convey my apologies to Maa and Baba.  I’ll not come inside; I think they will understand why.”  He turned the bike around and disappeared into the night.

With a feeling of great relief Nisha entered the house.  She knew that she would be able to sleep well tonight as a heavy burden was lifted off her chest.  Maa and Baba were surprised to see her come alone but when she told them that Suneel was called for an urgent assignment Baba said that it was a great thing that Suneel could spare so much time to spend with her.

Now Nisha did not care about anything else as she felt very hungry and there was a maddening aroma floating towards her from the kitchen.